be willing to give the to a supervisor that would be willing to enter the question. could decide if you do not want to do it. i understand why people would feel that way. host: scott keeter is the director of survey research from pew research center. he has it all tied up. you up next, we go to colorado. it is part of our series looking at the nine swing states. the latest polls out of their show a dead heat. coming up next, we will talk to curtis hubbard, editorial page editor of "denver post." then we will talk to a democratic analyst as well as a republican strategist.

we will take a break and we will be right back. >> these of these stories are textbooks left out. they are great stories about people in american history that we do not know about. the first programs in america came 50 years before the mayflower. they were french. they had the good sense to land in florida in june instead of december in massachusetts. they were wiped out by the spanish. hannah duffman was taken captive by the indians and in the middle of the night she killed her captor unrealized she could get a bounty for indian scalps.

they actually erected a statue for her, the first statute for a woman, a hatchet in one hand and a stop in the other. >> kenneth davis is the guest of in depth on "booktv" this weekend. watch live on c-span2. host: all this week and part of last week we have been focusing on the nine swing states that will be key to this election and we are highlighting them all. today, we put the spotlight on colorado where it appears to be a close race for the presidential election. you can see colorado there with the four corridors. there are nine electoral votes.

unemployment is 8%. joining us from denver this morning, curtis hubbard, the editorial page editor from "denver post." what are the top issues for colorado voters? guest: just like everywhere else, the economy and jobs. we have a large energy sector. education is a big issue. among the latino population and especially democrats, immigration reform. host: the demographics of the voters in colorado? guest: 52% women, 40% men. we have increased the number of people were voting by mail. 800,000 people have already cast ballots in this state. it is equally divided. one-third of the electorate is a

registered republican, won third democrat, one-third unaffiliated. everyone is plan for the group of unaffiliated voters. you'll hear a lot about appealing to women and latinos. we have heard a lot about the bennett strategy and that is the strategy center michael bennett used in running against the tide in 2010. where by appealing to women and latinos he was able to pull a victory in a year or not favorable to democrats. host: where are the traditionally democratic areas of the state? guest: denver is ground zero for democrats. boulder would be another. they have large registration bases in arapahoe m jefferson county. surprisingly, the fifth biggest

county for democratic voter registration is home to colorado springs in el paso county, typically viewed as a republican stronghold but that is a big voter bank for democrats. ski communities into the mountain, those have started to trended democratic. during go and telluride are two other ski communities that tend to vote democratic. host: there is a lot of focus on early voting. does colorado have it? what's it looking like? guest: we have vote by mail and early ballots. they have more people who have voted overseas bank in all of 2008. we had 800,000 ballots returned as of yesterday morning. republicans have about a 20,000 ballot advantage. they do not know how the

unaffiliated ballots are coming in. the numbers expected to grow to about 2.5 million this election cycle keeping in mind, rodham has about 2.8 active voters and more than that we look at inactive voters from the last election. about three-quarters of the vote should be conducted in colorado and maybe more prior to 6th. host: what is the voting system like on election day? guest: we have optical scanners, digital machines that are just the touchscreens and also had counted paper ballots. host: could there be post- election litigation? guest: there could. they are obviously prepared for that possibility. there is a mandatory recount if

the challenger finishes within 0.5% of the top vote-getter. it is the total votes received by the top candidate. host: we are talking with curtis hubbard of the "denver post," the editorial page editor. the colorado native has been covering many of the races in that state. part of the battle ground series, mr. hubbard, if we could go to "denver post," endorsement, who did you endorse and why? guest: we endorsed president obama. especially on the debt and the deficit, the president's proposal was more realistic and it would have less of a shock to the system in the country and lead -- in that it would balance spending cuts. we like is more balanced approach to energy.

we are in favor of obamacare. the editorial board was in favor of a public option so it did not go far enough for us. on social issues, immigration reform, women's rights, birth control, the editorial board aligns more with the president's policies. that is where we came down. we said that the voters are being asked by both candidates to take a leap of faith. given what we know about the previous four years, we decided that it was going to be an easier but to go with the president for four more. host: how many times have you seen president obama, governor romney, or their surrogates in your state? guest: president obama has been here eight times this year, governor romney has been here 6. paul ryan may be eligible to vote, he's been here that much. joe biden has been here once. we have had a lot of its from

michelle obama. we have seen plenty of action this cycle. host: bill clinton could be coming to your state. he is scheduled to campaign for the president today in colorado. he was supposed to be in colorado springs tuesday but cancelled due to the storm. guest: pending the outcome of the storm on the east coast, we will see both candidates later in the week. governor romney was here last week and held a rally at red rock and thousands were turned away. the following day, he held a rally in denver and drew a crowd estimated at 16,000. the governor this week has reserved an amphitheater in the southern suburbs of has a capacity of 18,000 people. there were looking at going to boulder to hold a rally there.

they're certainly trying to turn out a lot of voters with momentum. >> one week to go and following on -- host: of one week to go and looking at the momentum in colorado. the numbers are on your screen. with every special one from colorado residents. kathy from pueblo, colorado, an independent scholar. you're one of those unaffiliated voters that both campaigns really want. what are you thinking about in this presidential election? i caller:. the election has been bought by the democratic party, by all those trillions of dollars that obama has borrowed to give to the state of ohio. we cannot buy a coffee pot that is now bought in the united states. of the can talk about our

autoworkers, teachers, and firefighters. there are a lot more people out there than that demographic. host: curtis hubbard? guest: it sounds like she is unaffiliated but not undecided. she has made a per mind in this election. host: what about the amount of money that is being spent in colorado by the presidential campaigns and also outside groups? guest: we have seen significant spending by both campaigns and their surrogates. wesleyan university did an analysis of television and ad spending in the denver media market and it led all in the country as far as television time and the cost of advertising. we have seen significant attention here in the presidential race and we have a congressional race during signet attention as well. host: here is a breakdown of the

numbers. obama for america spent about $9 million on spots. aziz said the congressional races getting some attention as well. democratic caller. caller: mr. hubbard, who chose ashley mosier? so many people around this country are being shot. a lot of young kids, teenagers. why is no one talking about gun violence? not just about guns, but why are we treating people so bad?

why are we planning to be on afghanistan for two more years? young people come back from afghanistan and we are the spending all this money, poverty everywhere. the guy who wins in the theater and shot it up, the university near he was kind of crazy and we are a better country than the situation we are in. you have a good day. there are people out there who are depending on a real review of where the country is going. host: curtis hubbard. guest: you mentioned a really sorry tragedy for us, july 20th s, the gunmen in the theater in aurora. he killed 12 people and injured 58 at the midnight showing at the premiere of batman. there was a discussion in the days after that about what can the nation and colorado do as far as the gun laws.

we on the editorial board at "denver post," we supported reauthorization of the weapons ban and we support the elimination of the high-capacity magazines that people use for those guns. there's a point made here by the democratic gov. which is that gun-control laws will not stop someone who has an ill intent from acting on it. it's a difficult position for democrats, particularly in the west where second amendment rights are held tightly by voters across the spectrum. democrats have learned in colorado across several election cycles that running on gun control is not a winning proposition for them. we saw several pieces of legislation passed in colorado after the columbine massacre, but since that time politicians, especially on the left, have been loath to take part of the issue. republic host: in color from st.

augustine, fla. -- republican caller. caller: i would like to see them spending more time letting people know about other things going on in the government and have been mentioned. the activities that they talk about are not necessarily all the things we should be concerned about. there's hardly any mention made about the comments joe biden made to the man who came to pick up the body of his son. i don't know that these are the kind people that we should ever presented last but no one will touch these issues. guest: if nobody touched those issues, you would not know about it. there's no shortage of information these days. these campaigns are being covered like never before and

you can get a lot of the daily horse race aspect, but there's plenty of coverage of what the candidates are saying of the campaign trail and how that equates to the previous statements, policies they have enacted. i think that there is plenty of information for people. they just have to be willing to sit down and find it. host: here is "the bloomberg insider" take on colorado put out on august 27th. can you explain? guest: in our last legislative session, for the third time, lawmakers tried to pass a bill that would recognize same-sex of unions. for the first time, they got republican votes in the house, the chamber controlled by republicans in a one-vote margin. it was essentially filibustered

and the final night of the regular session and did not pass. the governor called a special legislative session in order to address several pieces of legislation. it was killed in committee there. the democrats, especially a prominent democratic fund-raiser come the founder of a court software put money into state house races to find candidates who would pass that issue. gay marriage works into the conversation here. as many of your viewers may know, we passed a constitutional amendment to legalize medical marijuana. in the last four years, we have seen huge growth in the medical marijuana industry in the form of dispensaries. their places where people who have been authorized by a doctor to use marijuana for medical care can get their marijuana. subsequently, for the third time since 2000, we will have on the

ballot an effort to legalize marijuana. we're one of three states this year without on the ballot. in early voting, it was polling above 53% support in favor of legalizing it in colorado. it has dipped down in some polls recently, but that is something to watch on election night. there is a theory of their that a lot of young voters especially are motivated by those two questions and that they will drive them to the polls whereas they may not be as interested in the presidential election. host: who would that help in the presidential candidates? guest: it would help president obama. i was talking to someone on the issue of colorado amendment 64. it is a republican stronghold but support for legalization down there was high among both democrats and republicans. that is a testament to the

libertarians. -- the libertarian spirit. it's really not the government's business what i do in the privacy of my own home and a lot of them look at the nation's war on drugs, specifically marijuana and things were a lot of money has been wasted on the effort. people were pushing the legalization efforts here equate marijuana and alcohol and the measure calls to regulate marijuana like alcohol. our newspaper has supported legalization. we came out in opposition to amendment 64, the legalization piece this year, because we did not think this was the right vehicle. host: what about third-party candidates in colorado? guest: a lot of us in colorado who have already received their ballots and saw the number of candidates on the balance were surprised. we have 16 here.

former new mexico gov. gary johnson running as the libertarian candidate is the most prominent of them. it depends on who you talk to. some people say governor johnson's it support for marijuana legalization could cost president obama votes. others say they tend to pull unaffiliated voters that could go republican, so he is one to watch to see what kind of vote totals he will get. the biggest third-party candidate in colorado history was ross perot who pulled in, i think, 23% of the vote. host: curtis hubbard, what will you be watching for on election night? guest: the suburban counties around denver. you will hear a lot of talk about arapaho and jefferson counties in terms of which ever candid it will win those counties. they will have a much easier path to running the state of colorado. i will be looking closely at the

number of republican votes coming in from el paso county, douglas county, mesa county. another swing county is a clear emmer, northern colorado, fort collins, colorado state university -- another county is larrimer. we are going to see if they get the numbers the way they want to. they will pay considerable attention to the southwest corner of the state. durango, ft. lewis, so we will see how they are doing in that corner of the state as well. host: off twitter. larry in colorado, democratic line. go ahead. caller: i just want to give a shout out for obama. i'm a pretty strong supporter of

his and i think is a real no- brainer when you consider that he pretty much saved us from a depression. the american recovery act was obviously a success. of course, the auto bailout. i do not think anyone can vote against obama because he had not save that the auto industry would have been lost. i cannot see how any woman in her right mind would vote for a man who would not support the lily ledbetter act, equal pay for equal work. that is another no-brainer for me. i just hope every democrat in colorado would get out and vote. we have three votes in this house hold for obama. in a few days i will be mailing my ballot in. that's my comment. guest: we literally the same town.

it's lewisville, colorado. it's the greatest small town in america. a great place to raise your family. there is a pitch my friends in city council will be happy for. a lot of others have already made up their minds. both sides can look at the recovery act and make strong cases for wire why not it did not work. we do not have enough time today to dispute that, but the point that we make in the editorials are that it provided significant spending to the state of colorado. it funded teacher jobs and other government programs to lessen the impact of the great recession here in the state and stimulus spending allowed for many of those schauble-ready -- shovel ready project to move forward. in recent history, we have had a hard time finding some of these on our own. women's health issue will be a big one, especially in the

suburbs around denver. the automobile industry one does not play quite as strongly here, but it is certainly something to consider. we have a healthy manufacturing sector, not tied to the automobile industry, but it's one of the key pieces of our economy here. host: one other issue people are pay attention to are the congressional races. can you sum them up for us? guest: the hot race will be the newly drawn sixth congressional district. it was heavily republican four years. many of your viewers probably remember tom holding that seat. mike kaufman was elected two districts ago. it was redrawn in redistricting and it now includes the city of aurora, the third largest city in colorado and it has a slight democratic edge.

they have a democrat running in that seat. the congressman stumbled in to some trouble earlier this year when he made comments at a republican fund-raiser about the president and questioning whether or not in his party was an american. it was caught on videotape by a supporter who posted it to the internet because he agreed with the congressman's sentiments. he has been having to walk back from that view and being a member of the tea party caucus ever since. the difficulty is that he is not a known quantity and colorado politics. he represented denver in the state house, not aurora, so he's not well known in that district. he is probably a little further to the left than a lot of the unaffiliated voters, but it is a race i mentioned that has drawn considerable attention from the democratic congressional committee for spending in

television markets in that race and it will be one to watch especially because of the experts looking at that in colorado saying that's a district that obama will likely carry moving forward. can congressman kaufman, the incumbent, hold onto his seat and face the challenge? it's interesting because he's a veteran of both the iraq war and the persian gulf war. he had military experience and he has served in the house in that capacity and he is one of the few republicans who looks at the defense budget and can make a strong case for ways to cut spending on defense. he is intriguing to a lot of voters as a result. about this race for a second. guest: ed is one of the hardest working people if not the hardest in the coming negation.

joe coors has put in $3 million into his own race and he is from the coors beer family. he has made a point of saying that he built his own fortune in the manufacturing business. they are also competing in a newly we don. -- a newly redrawn district. it includes points west of the city of denver. all accounts are that the congressman has a fight on his hands but he is up to the task. this is the third congressional district, southern colorado and what we call the western slopes, west of the continental divide. that has incumbent tipton and sal pace. pace is also from the state house of representatives.

that's another to keep an eye on. host: next caller, jan from louisville, tenn. caller: no one ever mentions ever mentionsbenghazi. -- about benghazi. i have not read any newspaper articles about benghazi. i'm concerned about the four men that were murdered with no help from the government. they refuse them, not one time, not two times but several. this is very heart warming and it hurts to know that our government will not stand up for our men overseas. this was our ambassador, a place -- it is just disheartening that we have something like this.

host: we will have curtis hubbard answer that. the front page of "the new york times" this morning has a piece on this and what the government knew and when it knew it. have you guys cover that story? guest: we have it in the news pages and the editorial pages and we have written several times on the administration's need to fully explain to the american public their response, what was known beforehand and what changes will be made moving forward. we did a piece to set up the foreign policy debate. like many of your viewers, we were surprised when governor romney some -- presented that as the first question in that debate. we made a note of the day after that debate. host: do you think this issue is one that is in the top five for voters in colorado? guest: no. for voters who are opposed to

the obama administration, it makes their top five, but the top five for most people, three out of those spots are the economy, the economy, the economy. after that it would be energy and social issues, women's access to health care being chief among them. host: curtis hubbard, thank you so much for your time this morning. guest: thanks for having me. host: our look cut this topic will continue with the republican strategist john turner and then later with. >> as we approach the election

day, c-span is asking middle and high school students to send a message to the president. in a short video students what i ask the question was the most important issue the president is facing in 2013. the studentcam video competition is open to kids aged 6-12. the deadline is january 18, 2013. find out more at studentcam.org. >> these are the stories that your textbooks left out. they are great stories in american history. the first program came up to 50 sale. before the mayflower sel there were french. they made wine. they had the good sense of to come in june instead of the winter. they were completely wiped out by the spanish.

an indian woman was captured by the spanish. in the middle of the night she killed her captor. she realized she could get a county for the scouts. she went back to boston and was a hero. they erected a statue in her honor. >> live sunday at noon eastern with kenneth davis, on both tv on c-span2. "washington journal" continues. > host: sean tonner is joining us from denver this morning. this is the financial times this

morning showing it is pretty even, 47.8% for each candidate. the some are showing governor romney ahead. the denver post notes that obama has been to the state more than any president in four years. he carried in by a large number in 2008. however republicans responding? guest: particularly since the first debate, i think republicans are very energized right now. getting out and respond in, and you're also seeing record visits by the republican candidate, mitt romney, as well as his running mate, paul ryan. host: as far as the ground game for republicans in the state, what do you need to have a place in the state of colorado? guest: the ground game, a typically, you start building it about six months out from the election.

clearly, our candidates, mitt romney was still engaged in a primary fight, but they have quickly made up a lot of the ground. you need to have thousands of volunteers in place dispersed among -- along the i 25 corridor and in the pocket communities along the western slope of the mounds. four years ago, hats off to the obama campaign. if they did a tremendous job and had a lot of enthusiasm. but this year, that has been negated in the last couple of months by the republicans. host: where do they feel they can get ahead? early votes? absentee voting? guest: absentee voting, clearly. and right now, the advantage is to the republicans by about

40,000 active voters. right now, you are seeing a disproportionate amount of republicans returning their absentee ballots. four years ago, you did not see that a return rate amongst absentee among republicans for john mccain. host: on the ballot issues and bloomberg insider rights this a -- guest: the civil union issue, i think that is accurate, by the

way. i have not see the civil union issue pop up in to the contras as of the average voter. on the margins, -- into the consciousness of the average voter. on the margins, it may pop up. although, it would traditionally break into the democratic party since they have been the sponsor of this type of legislation in the legislature. the predominant issue around the country is the economy. host: the bloomberg insider also reports -- guest: can we do a better job, absolutely. and we must do a better job for one to remain a relevant party

on the national scene, and particularly in the west. the latino vote, the hispanic vote as we like to call that in the west, it had shifted toward the republicans under president and former colorado gov. bill once actually won the hispanic vote here in 2002. it began to slip away. we had some issues with one of our congressman, congressman tom tancredo pushed away some of those votes. of the active voting provision is about 16%. the -- the acting voting population is about 16%. the romney base has hundreds of key hispanic leaders throughout the state of organizing and helping him get out the vote.

host: in 2008, exit polls show that president obama won the hispanic vote in colorado, two- thirds of colorado's hispanic vote that year. it is a big part of the campaign for this election. what about that for gary johnson on the ballot in colorado? guest: he was our governor to the south. he was very enthusiastic on those issues. on the ballot this year is the issue of legalizing marijuana. gary johnson was for the decriminalization of marijuana. i think you'll have some on the fringe of voters, not a libertarian, but others as well that will gravitate toward gary johnson.

he does not have the money to get his message out. also, of boulder county, which is a key base for democrats, you have a green party on the ballot. gary johnson will roll become in a distant third, but come in third in colorado. host: we have a democratic caller on the line. caller: i want to know why the congress is not being held accountable for what they're doing. they're holding the contras -- the country up and everybody is blaming obama. he can only do so much. guest: you are seeing the frustration the town hall meetings, that the candidates particularly in the more competitive districts, the sixth congressional district that you heard about earlier, which is

one of the two key counties they divided presidential campaign. and over in the third congressional district, which is the western slope of colorado with scott haggis and tooten, they would probably say that as a key frustration. hearing it out on the campaign trail. how about translates is that it comes back to the economy and jobs. host: this is barbara on twitter. and she says, let's see, you are for brahney because he is for tax cuts for the rich, no regulation, a takeover women's rights to own other bodies, privatize all government agencies. how do you respond? guest: correct on the tax-cut and hopefully get the economy moving. i republican for my issues,

which are limited government and lower taxes and less regulatory environment. in colorado, where you find is in her to give her as he moved west across the united states, and republican voter is a quasi- libertarian type of voter. it is limited government. it is kind of an old west at it, keep government out of our lives. i think you also see others that will move toward the center as well. it is limited government and less washington d.c. involvement in our lives. an oldhost: what is the makeupe state legislature? guest: we have a slight majority in the state house for republicans. we control the state house. and the senate, a slim majority for the democrats.

the attorney general and other statewide elected officials are republican. and our governor is a democrat and very popular. it is representative of the voting population we are little helter-skelter. host: mary and westfield and new jersey, independent caller. caller: can you hear me? host: my fault, go ahead. caller: two questions. the president says that north america will be energy independent. how come the press does not realize that includes at canada and mexico? and allegedly, he has holdings in china and mexico. before cannot see a tax returns,

we cannot see his holdings in mexico. i want people to consider a third-party candidates. i hope the press begins to do a thorough job host: any response to that caller? guest: in terms of energy independence, which would probably be the most salient topic today, particularly here in colorado, with the direction of drilling and fragging and new technologies that are coming on line as we involved our energy exploration efforts. here in colorado we have what is similar to the balkan information. all down the front range as were

the niobrara a formation is. i think god will -- i think that will motivate some orders to turn out. -- i think that will motivate some voters to turn out. you'll still see a gravitation with the folks in the suburbs where there are high-paying jobs. host: one of the many aspects colorado is see in, it is playing in that state as well as other battle ground states is from the body -- the obama campaign. [video clip] >> pluribus to close to call. >> the difference between what was and what could have been. this year, if you are thinking that your vote doesn't count, that it won't matter, back then, there were probably at least 537

people that felt the same way. make your voice heard. vote. host: is that having an impact? guest: you know, it is a great advertisement. it is driving right to the heart of what president obama needs to throw colorado, but also the about brown states. it is to get the same coalitions, the youth, the women, both on a phillippe -- unaffiliated and republican, minority provisions need to turn out in historic week disproportionate numbers. denver has a very young population, which is also a democrat stronghold. i have seen that had three or four times in the last couple of nights spirit -- i've seen advertisements three or four

times in the last couple of nights. host: are you seeing what lawyers are doing to prepare for that? guest: modern campaigning since 2000 with the florida recount, it seems that one of its first things you do is hire gorda attorneys, between good election law and getting ready for the challenge. on the republican side i'm confident. the democrats have a well oiled machine, not only nationally. but on the republican side they are very well-organized. their two legal strike teams in a lot of the counties, not all 64, but the key ones. they will have teams of lawyers on the ground actually watching the palace -- the ballots be processed. it is all feeding into the central to our center, the obama

war room and the brahney war room. host: which are the key ones in colorado? guest: jefferson and arapaho, west of downtown denver. and then i-25, which is our main interstate going north and south, down to the south, pueblo, larry, adams cannot -- adams, and then one of them except the big 11 and that is grand junction. that is essentially 85% of our state's population in those 11 counties. host: kevin in houston, texas, in europe next. -- you are up next. caller: i am a young man and a live in texas. i went to college in 2001.

i had to go through a bunch of banks. it took much of my time in college to go through all of these banks just so i could go to school. my mother has a loan through countrywide. i'm noticing the the republican party keep saying things like, we are going to keep the government out of this and that, but at the same time, talking about gay marriage and women's rights. why is it that banks can do whatever they want, lenders can do whatever they want, and the republican party thinks that is ok, but if somebody decides they

want to be in a same-sex marriage or if a woman decides that she cannot afford a baby that she has to have that child? can do whatever theyone more before i e line. i have gone through a series of jobs in the last couple of years. ,'ve noticed that when i work i'm getting my hours cut like crazy. a lot of businesses that are making it a priority to save money on the top and so that they can have more cash in their pockets and those people at the bottom are struggling to make money. host: i've got to leave it there. and what did you get from the first part abbottabad callers' comments? if guest: that -- the first part of that callers' comments? guest: that relates a particular lead to colorado and other battleground states. less government involvement is where the republican party is out in the west. and i would say more so than either coast.

as you get into student loan issues, business issues in particular, as you were talking about at the end, employers cutting deck hours, if we lower -- cutting back hours, if we lower taxes, that in -- that allows employers to hire more people. if we continually pushed down on the entrepreneur and disincentivizing them through higher taxes or regulation, you'll get less and less money coming to the employees. and you can expand that to health care. you can say to employers, you have this additional $20,000 or $30,000 cost per year, they will hire less people. few are regulations and less government involvement in the private sector. and we could become a leading

nation again in the world. we are sliding right off the top 10 scale right now as far as competitive places. the capital will move to places that are more competitive overseas and start creating jobs. we want those jobs here. host: comment on twitter -- guest: our secretary of state launched a campaign roughly 68 months ago to go through -- we have two types of back -- of all voters in colorado. active voters and inactive voters. active voters are those the board in the last couple of elections. inactive voters either moved away or are just tired of the system. he has been going through the inactive voters and purging the registration rolls that are in question. i do not know how many were

actually purchased through the system. and typically, there is a big fight of even taking the inactive borders of the roles between the two big parties. right now, democrats are carrying more inactive voters on their roles than republicans. host: ron on the independent line. caller: i would like to find out party is thinks the two- influencing the outcome. i am a former tea party member. they were supposed to go in and get jobs and all they did was 33 bills. it was for abortion and nothing about jobs. i went to a rally saturday and there were something like 500 people. in 2010 there were about 3000

people. guest: i would concur with the caller. i would say that the two-party peak in 2010 in particular. -- the tea party peak in 2010 in particular in colorado. i've one time we had over 86 individual chapters throughout just colorado. someone getting plugged in may have a horrible experience in one part of a single county and a great experience at the other side of the county. i think that experience led people who wanted to stay active to migrate back into the republican party fold, for the most part. some were members of the libertarian party. and some in the green and in the democrat party. but i think where the tea party is still very relevant, or ticket early in colorado and in many other states, --

particularly in colorado and in many other states, it is providing the gasoline for the parties that are on the ground, walking the ground, making the phone calls, on the street corners. that is where the tea party has been funneled into the republican party predominately, and then also to the democrat party. host: marvin in chicago, a democratic caller. caller: how you feel mitt romney can be qualified as president -- you say he could create 12 lovain jobs when he was a -- 12 million jobs when he was governor of massachusetts. he was 47 perata 50 in job creation there. and he left office with low job approval. and then he made those comments

about the 47%. as president, you are president of 100% of the people. how do you feel he is qualified? guest: if we are going to be rewinding the tape, with shorter won back a little over three and a half to four years ago when our president claimed that if he did not get unemployment below 5% that he should not be reelected. i think that is the barometer that people are looking at president obama. we have soaring residents -- rhetoric and great expectations for this president. in the first couple of months in office after the stimulus, the president took his eye off the ball. these are worrying about cold warming conventions in sweden. he started working about card check. and then doing health care, all very partisan issue.

when we were looking at our worst economic scenario since the great depression, our president and his administration was focused elsewhere. if we're going to rewind the tape and use the 47% comments, we should use the 5% comment. that is the most relevant comment in americans' lives they, which is, let's get american economy moving. host: john hickok lipper, a a a former democrat and former denver mayor has high approval. are you worried about that? guest: governor hickenlooper is wildly popular. he has ratings rival in former gov. bill owens.

what you see in the west as far as successful politicians, which are those that represent the people, republicans, democrats, and phillips, john hickenlooper understands many natural resources. he has been a strong advocate for the energy industry as well as education reform. but not in a way that created a huge protest of the capital. today, he has been only mildly active for the president. i think he has made a couple of endorsement on tv. he has not run at -- run any spots that paid media and shown up sparingly at rallies. he wants to maintain best cops -- that 70% popularity rating. host: lisa, good morning, your

on the air. caller: my question is common -- is, they say they are doing a strategy, i would like to know what that is to help us with jobs. here in massachusetts, romney abandon us just like the republican party has abandoned bush. i would like to know what to look for that? guest: again, looking at how republicans differ from the democrats as far as job creation, the tax code. more money to invest in your business, or in your home.

all of the things that families are grappling with. maybe pay your employees more if they are your family. also getting tough on the trade policy. american workers -- i travel the world quite a bit during elections abroad as well as business. the american worker is second to none. let's take back those things for change. let's compete evenly in the global marketplace. lastly, pulling back regulations, as well as oversight in every aspect of our business as it is more and more creeping into our personal lives. >> host: talk about the congressional races. what is your prediction for the commercial district that folks are watching inside -- the critical the districts that are being watched inside the state.

guest: roughly the size of the state of florida is the third congressional district. it is currently held by republican. he won it in a tough year. voter registration numbers republican vs. democrat have increased on the republican side of the aisle, and performance- wise, it performs at a + 12 republican. i think it is a tight race. i think scott tooten will retain his seat by a comfortable margin. mike coughlin, they we drew his district. both the romney and obama campaigns have put a tremendous

amount of resources into this congressional district for the turnaround models. congress and -- congressman mike kaufman is very identifiable with voters as being a combat veteran, served both in the army and marine corps in desert storm as well as the iraq war. i think mike kaufman wins that and he has always take his opponent 4 to 1. -- he has out-raised his opponent 4 to 1. i think he maintained his 67 point margin. -- six to 7 point margin. and then switching over to the district that was traditionally held by republican, and then the democrats held it for the better part of eight years. this will be an up the hill

battle -- an uphill battle for joe torre. -- joe coursors. this will be a hotly contested races both at the presidential all the way down to the district. this could go either way. i give a slight advantage to his challenger. it will be people on the ground in that district. host: thank you for your time. guest: thank you. host: this part of the conversation continues as part of our 2012 series. we will have a, rick palau co -- palacio coming up next.

>> i would like to ask you a question similar to that of the vice presidential candidates and their javaid. as a catholic, how has that shape your debate? >> i'm not catholic. i am the episcopalian. i guess i cannot answer the question. >> your husband is catholic. >> my husband is catholic. i am an episcopalian. we have raised our java has catholics. but i would be happy to talk about my view on abortion. my view is that it should be safe, legal, and rare. >> here is the difference.

this is not manufactured. and we have babies in america, and in iowa, that are being aborted simply because they are baby girls, because the mother once a boy instead of a girl. is coming in from the asian community as well. we have legislation coming that prohibits sex elective abortion. i think that matters to the little girl being aborted. >> go to c-span.org/campaign2012 for more. "washington journal" continues. host: back to colorado where the chairman of the democratic party from the estate is joining us, rickshaw palacio. lead from the business

insider has completely about. in two kings -- the key swing states prepare guest: we always knew that races like this would tighten up. they always do in october and november. and we have been working hard with daud. we have 60 obama offices across to deliver a strong ground game. we are still sure that he will take colorado's electoral votes. host: tell us about your ground game. guest: like i said, we have 60 offices spread around all four corners, from small towns like

during go and ridgway and fair play in the mountains, -- durango, ridgway, and fair play in the mountains to the metra offices. we have paid staffers and literally thousands of volunteers in every single neighborhood to try to bring people out of their homes to vote, to get their mail-in ballots turned back in. it is an incredibly strong operation. frankly, i've never seen anything like what we have here in colorado right now. host: when it comes to democratic voters, president obama one last time with the youth in the states. here is something from the l.a. times -- a guest: i would say their enthusiasm across the state is actually quite high.

it was not just the young voters i took them over the edge in 2008. it was all of colorado coming together to share a vision. we have seen a bold leadership style from the president that people expected some historic achievement in health care reform, in pulling our troops out of iraq, and the end of don't ask, don't tell, wall street reform, the list goes on and on. i think what people were excited about in 2008, they continue to be excited about in 2012. we have enthusiastic supporters that are working very hard to reelect the president. there is no doubt that this will be a close election. the election i will be a long one, no doubt. -- the election night will be a long one, no doubt. but i trust that the people of

ottawa help to put the president back into office for another four years. host: how are you all preparing for a possible recount? what do you think the likelihood is of any dispute? guest: what we are preparing for right now is just getting all of the mail-in ballots that people have on their counters, getting those turned back in. we are ensuring that people who can vote early can go down to their polling location, whether it be the clerk's office or the voting center to cast their ballots. and those who want to wait until election day, willie pushing them to cast their votes on november 6 -- we will be pushing them to cast their votes on november 6. host: we just had a republican strategist on who said both

parties have to be prepared since the 2000 election with lawyers and all of that to be ready to go. are you saying you do not have that in place? guest: what i'm talking about are the canvassers on the ground, the thousands of volunteers. i'm sure we have an incredible team of lawyers that are prepared for any scenario as it happens. right now, our primary focus is just getting people to turn their ballots back in and getting them to vote on election day. host: this was a piece that was written on, robert daly's website. -- colorado daily is a website. what is your reaction? guest: i would say that gary johnson sounds like a nice guy, but not something that we are concerned about right now. again, it is about getting people to return their ballots

back in and getting them to vote. at the end of the day, i don't think that gary johnson or any third pair of -- third-party candidates or minor candidates will half an effect in this election. the taurus that people have right now are between two very died -- the choice that people have right now are between two very divergent leaders. they can either go with the trust of leadership of president obama or go back to the same failed policies of the past and vote for mitt romney. that is the choice in this election. host: up next is thom, an independent caller. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am a 30-year c-span watcher. i would like to say few words to my fellow americans. i am a descendant of the revolutionary war heroes. our founding fathers gave us something new. it was called petricone up

economics, where all of us would share -- it was called a trickle up economics, where all of us would share in our country's bounty. now there is trickle-down economics. there is not a farmer who would give seed to one more senate expect it to -- give seed to one source and expected to warm all of his herd. you cannot give all of your love and teaching to one child and expect a whole family to grow. down economicsle- is what has ruined this country. trickle up is what our founding fathers gave a spirited -- gave us. host: thank you for your

comments. guest: whether you call it trickle-down economics or voodoo economics or whatever you call it, we have been there and done that and we have the teacher. and that is what mitt romney is in favor of. host: next caller from louisiana. caller: i would say that with all that obama has done, all the lies, all of service, why would anyone want to vote for him again? he has also called mitt romney a liar. he wins michem -- key wins first place. host: what has he lied about? caller: he lied about ben ghazi. and when they passed the health care bill, that it would save money. it is going to cost more money.

democrats and him have done all the carnage that has ever been done in this country. supporting him was the biggest mistake of this country's ever made. guest: is certainly respect your opinion, but i think you are wrong. there are a myriad of things, and i can go through the list. health care reform is actually saving the system money. it is also saving american families money in their health- care premiums. i am just as much concerned about ben ghazi has anyone else, but i will tell you that i am not a privilege to the top secret and confidential information that our nation's leaders and military are. i will not sit here and try to

be an armchair quarterback in this instance. i trust in the leadership of our president and i think the majority of americans also trust in the leadership of our american -- of our president. he does not take pack seat -- back seat when it comes to foreign policy. on his first trip abroad he decided he would offend our closest allies in the world. host: i want to show our viewers an ad that is running in the state of colorado. [video clip] this president can tell us it was someone else's fault, but this president cannot tell us that you are better off today after he took office. >> hearing got a, we are not better off under obama. his defense cuts have 20,000

jobs. strengthen our military and bring 200,000 new jobs. host: how do you respond to that? guest: is essentially a falsehood. the president has not made defense cuts. he has applied the military leaders with exactly what they need. again, i will say again, the president does not take a back seat when it comes to military issues or as it relates to veterans and their care. to blame sequestration, and of assuming that is what this had is about, to blame that on the president when it was the congress to actually pass the sequestration act does absolutely false. -- the congress who actually passed the sequestration act is absolutely false. host: next caller.

caller: mendon pendant and i think i have made my mind to vote for obama. having said that, i have noticed a tremendous mistake. sitting in my home i can see it. and great minds, professionals in this business do not seem to see it. he has all but left out white working-class men. the only thing i have seen it is little tidbits about the job program. why is it that -- and by the way, i should say that no matter what anybody says, race plays a role in the spirit of the last person i called, the polarization i see is ridiculous. they will not even open the door for consideration for some white working-class men. some of them even voted for them -- for him in the last go around, but they have closed the door again. i have not seen anyone reach out

to white working-class man on the democratic side, or very little. maybe in certain states centered on the auto industry and so forth. what people do not realize is the loss of jobs in this country are now encroaching on white- collar. engineers, for instance, people who do marketing. some very good paying jobs are going abroad as well with all of this. it has just not become so widespread it's like with manufacturing. host: ok. guest: the point that i would make is that in the last 30 months or more, this economy has grown, has produced nearly 5 million private-sector jobs. we have consecutively and

consistently produced jobs over the last 30 months. it is simple. and regardless of where you are from, whether southern colorado like myself and you come from a sectorhispanic background, or ye from st. louis and you consider yourself a white, middle-class male as the caller just did, we are all in this together. we do better as a country when everyone has an opportunity to prosper. host: on our line for democrats, brian in madison, ohio. caller: good morning. i am a really disgruntled democrats. i'm going to vote for president obama. i do not understand why the democratic party does not look back to 1994, to contract america, which republicans did not affect -- did not fulfil. when the republicans had control of both houses, nothing got done. this year, they cut out early.

i do agree with the last caller about reaching out to every race. background, or youhost: rick p? guest: again, this is not about one ethnic group, one racial group or another. this is about to ensuring policies in place by grow our economy. this is about making sure that we have policies in place to make sure that every child has an opportunity to get a quality public education and to go on to get a college degree and be part of the american dream. this is not about a racial divide. we achieved, we move forward if we are all in this together. that is what this president has done and will continue to do. host: if you look at the demographic of camaraderie, our last guest told us that the hispanic vote makes a 25%. and what is your prediction on

the way the election goes? guest: the hispanic population in colorado was only 21%, and that is the population on the whole. the voting population of the hispanic vote is roughly around 12%, somewhere in there. no doubt, latinos and al-nahda, as the rest of the country, are going to be a big part of -- latinos in colorado, as the rest of the country, are going to be a big part of the election and what i have seen is very similar to what is happening across the country, the enthusiasm for president obama amongst latinos is through the roof. if you look pacquiao -- look back at the latino poll that just came out, enthusiasm is hired now that it was -- enthusiasm is higher now than it was in 2008.

there is no doubt that it will have a huge impact. the more that latinos and turn out, they can have a much bigger impact in this election than in any other previous election we have had. host: independent caller from garland, texas. your on the air. caller: can i go ahead with my question? host: please do. caller: hello? host: i'm going to put you on hold. you've got to turn the television down. laurie in houston, texas, democratic caller. caller: i would like to thank the host for informing one of the callers that your show is not paid for by the government. it seems to be a lot of people who call in our very uninformed. i feel like i'm hearing a lot of comments that come from? news. i also feel that -- that come

from fox news. i also feel that the president is doing a great job. have people from what happened before he came into the office where the stock market was crashing? millions of people were going into foreclosure, the car companies getting ready to go out of business, and obama's hands have been tied by people who wanted to get him out of office on day one and look what he has been able to do. and people are asking is why we are still willing to vote for him? what does brahney stand for? -- what does romney stand for? host: i have a feeling you agree with her, going to move on to the next caller from new jersey. susan, go ahead. caller: the first thing i would like to take up is reverse discrimination. the people who call into your show, mainly democrats, who are

very much in favor of president obama, they seem to have forgotten about the problem started with the democrats. people in congress who pushed for most citizens who cannot afford it, never will be able to afford houses. that is where it started. the next problem, you denied that the president had anything to do with an ghazi. that simply is not true. for two weeks after it happened, he shut everybody out to cover up for him and say that it was a protest. and it was not. >> ok.

guest: i would have to disagree with the caller on who started all of this. if you look at historical data, economically, americans have done better under democratic administrations than the house republican administrations. during the years of bill clinton, 23 million private- sector jobs were created. george bush's numbers in comparison were quite paltry. again on ben ghazi, i said before that i am not privileged to some of the information that i am sure our president and military leaders have right now i would put money on the fact that our last caller is not as well. i trust wholeheartedly the leadership of our president. he takes a backseat to no one when it comes to military issues or foreign policy issues. he has taken very bold steps when faced with threats from other nations or from

terrorists. a leading example, of course, is taking out osama bin laden the first moment he had an opportunity to do so. host: this is a tweet from one our viewers, who says much obama disenchantment is due to 2008 voters as attributing medical traits to the candidates. their fault, not his. let's go back to anthony in garland, independent caller. caller: all i am trying to find out is why -- my name is anthony. i'm a first-time caller. i have a comment and then a question. my first comment is why democrats are not really looking into the people surrounding governor romney, like those who

took care of jabr bush and everything got messed up. and why is running not winning in massachusetts? he claimed to be popular while he was the governor. host: rick palacio? guest: i think i understand the first question, which is why we have not investigated the previous administration. i think is important to move forward. this -- that is what this president is about, being forward-looking. we have a recovery and a ways to go without. -- we have a ways to go with the recovery. in massachusetts, mitt romney likes to talk about his

experience as a business person, but rarely talked about his experience as governor in massachusetts. when he was there, massachusetts was 47th in job creation. he likes to talk about education. the massachusetts was number one in education when he took office. it was number one when he was in office. it continues to be never won today. the most that he can say right now about his edge -- his record in education in massachusetts is that he did not mess things up. it is interesting to note that he did not run for a second term. i would guess but he did the analysis and realized he could not win a second term. i would guess that massachusetts is going to vote for president obama roughly around 65%. host: next call is a democratic

call. caller: i have been listening to you for quite awhile. this is the first time i have called. i do not think you realize that obama going into office as president, he wholeheartedly thought he could make a difference across party lines. but what he did not realize was that this was a "no" congress who decided from day one that once he was elected they would not let anything passed. but so much has done by this president and has never been done before. they find all kinds of things to complain about. i never realized how much it has to do with race. but you did not realize how

much until after he became president. host: i'm going to jump in right here and try to get in one more phone call from john in dearborn, michigan. caller: good morning. my question is, against the democrats and republicans in the senate and house, obama decided to let terrorist go in guantanamo bay when he was told they were going to kill servicemen and women overseas, and he still let them out. and he still offered police to be under were, when he tried to -- offered pleas to the when he trieder to blow us up. does does sound like someone we